


Always there for you

by Jessistired



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Justice League Dark (2017), Justice League Dark (Comics)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Kinda, Oneshot, Secret Identity, a bit of my own fanon in there, because I was too lazy to separate it from canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22324351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jessistired/pseuds/Jessistired
Summary: So basically Zatanna gets a text to let her know John is waiting for her, which never means anything good.
Relationships: John Constantine/Zatanna Zatara
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51





	Always there for you

**Author's Note:**

> Lol sorry for this. There just wasn't enough magicblazer content out there, so I had to write my own shitty content. I honestly didn't expect this to end up over a thousand.  
> The original idea came from coffin-prompts on tumblr.  
> "You've been here two minutes and my assistant is already mad at you?" I started with that idea and lost control from there.

Living the double life came as easy as breathing air for Zatanna Zatara. Her dad had taught her from a young age. Teaching her every aspect of stage performance and real magic simultaneously. 

The performance part was easy. After all, she was Zatanna. (She rebranded after her father died, taking up the ‘Zatara the Great’ mantle felt wrong.) The more difficult part was the people. She kept up her mysterious persona in front of other magicians, her crew, even her agent, Abigail, who she considered to be a friend.

While it kinda annoyed her competitors that she never really let her veil down around them, they were also the least nosy about the truth. Everyone wanted to know the Zatara family’s secret. But anyone who had met her father knew that it was impossible to find out, and Zatanna quickly taught all the new magicians that she was not someone to be trifled with.

Her crew loved the mystery. It gave them some excitement. They wouldn’t see her all day, then five seconds before the show she burst onto stage completely ready for the show. Everyone of them had their own theory as to how she pulled off her grand finale, which was always magic. The older members of her troupe, the ones who worked with her father, were people she knew she would always be able to count on, no matter what. They were the closest thing to a family she had left.

Abigail was the only agent that Zatanna had met that she actually liked, let alone trusted. Her father managed to get by without one, something that Zatanna would never be able to understand. The headaches of trying to get her own gig’s quickly outweighed the stress of finding a good agent. She had to go through several bad eggs before she found Abby. Abby understood what was important to Zatanna. She made sure Zatanna’s crew was taken care of. She worked with Zatanna’s schedule even though she didn’t know why it was so busy. Most importantly, she was good at reading people. Abby could sniff out spies or people trying to rip off Zatanna in a heartbeat. 

It was this amazing intuition, though, that was currently giving Zatanna trouble with her double life. Abby was willing to conveniently forget all of Zatanna’s suspicious actions that should have tipped her off towards the truth. When it came to John Constatine, however, Abby did not ignore her instincts. She disliked him within five minutes of meeting him. 

It started with a simple text from Abby, _A John Constatine came by the theater looking for you today._

Currently, Zatanna was working with Dr. Fate on a ritual. Something that couldn’t be ignored unless it was the end of the world. Considering that John didn’t just contact her directly, Zatanna assumed it wasn’t. She turned off her phone, then gave her full attention to the ritual. 

A couple of exhausting hours later she turned on her phone back on. It immediately bombarded her with texts. All of which were from Abby.

_I don’t like this guy. Seems fishy._

_How do you know him?_

_I asked him, and in about the most assholish way possible he implied that you slept together. Zee, tell me you have better taste than that._ Another quality Zatanna loved about Abby was her honesty, though right now she wished Abby would just lie a little bit.

_He’s not leaving. It’s been two hours._

_He looks like a hobo. Where the hell did you meet him?_

_God Zee I’m stuck at the office because I don’t trust him to not break-in and steal something, when are you coming back?_ Technically ‘the office’ was Zatanna’s headquarters for all financial aspects of her life, but Abby used it more. Zatanna was grateful that Abby stayed. She wanted to catch John sitting in the waiting room, not dramatically sitting behind her desk.

Zatanna typed out, _On my way now, sorry. <3_

_I will accept your apology only if you bring me a bottle of wine <3_. Abby was definitely having a typical reaction to meeting John. 

Zatanna chuckled, “Ni tnorf fo ym eciffo gnidliub.” With a burst of smoke, Zatanna appeared in front of her office building. After looking to make sure the coast was clear, she said, “Elttob fo eniw morf ym tnemtrapa.” Immediately an unopened bottle appeared in her hand. She walked into the lobby of the building.

“Hello Ms. Zatara.” The general receptionist greeted her pleasantly.

Zatanna gave her a small wave and, “Hi.” In response. John was sitting in a chair with his head resting on his hand, clearly asleep. Zatanna paused to take a look at him. He looked like crap. His eyes had bags under them and he was covered in dirt. Luckily he wasn’t covered in blood, but he was sporting several bruises.

Some small part of her was always worried about him. He had such a talent for getting himself into trouble with no one to bail him out. She was both simultaneously relieved to see him here, alive and fine (by John’s standards), and furious that he wasn’t at home sleeping and cleaning himself up. It frustrated her to no end that he refused to take care of himself. As if he wasn’t important enough. Still, even with all of her anger and frustration with him, she wanted to hold him. She wanted to tell him that he was worth all the trouble he caused, despite what he thought. 

Zatanna sighed and decided that she would wake him up after she sent Abby home. Abby had retreated to her office on the third floor. She was playing on her phone when Zatanna walked in. Instead of saying hello, she simply glared at Zatanna over her phone.

“I know, I know, but I was helping a friend. Besides,” Zatanna shook the bottle, “I brought you a present.”

Abby smiled and put down her phone. “I guess I forgive you.”

“Thanks.” Zatanna handed Abby the bottle.

While she examined it, Abby asked, “How do you know that jerk anyways?”

“We were a thing,” Zatanna admitted. Dating was the closest thing to it, but Zatanna always avoided labels because John was allergic to commitment.

Abby sighed, “So, did you kick him out of the building?”

“No, he’s still sleeping downstairs. I'm going to talk to him after you leave.”

Abby gave her a look as if she wanted to say something. Then she shrugged and said, “It’s your life.”

Zatanna walked Abby down the stairs and into a cab.

“You sure you don’t want me around for when he wakes up? I can be quite intimidating you know.” Abby held her arms up as if she was flexing them.

Zatanna laughed, “I’ll be fine, thanks though. Now go home and enjoy that wine.”

“I will.” 

Zatanna debated how to wake John up. In the end, she decided that while it would be hilarious to pour water on him, he clearly had a rough day. So she knelt in front of him and gently shook him awake while whispering his name.

He blinked a couple times, then rubbed his eyes. “Hey Zee.”

“Hi.” Zatanna stood up and offered her hand. “Let’s walk.”

“Oh, love,” John took her hand, “You don’t want your friends to see us?”

“Not with you looking like this.” Zatanna replied flatly as she could. “Now come on.”

John smirked and followed her. After they walked a couple blocks outside Zatanna asked, “Are you going to summon it?”

“What?”

“The house.” It was one of John’s newer assets, but Zatanna had still heard of the House of Mystery. Seemed like a good enough spot for whatever this was, plus she wanted to see it.

“Actually I was thinking your place.” John said somewhat sheepishly.

“Why? Anything we would need for whatever case you have would be at the house.”

John shrugged, “Don’t have a case for us to work on.”

Zatanna sighed, “Then why are you here?”

“To spend some time with you.” John said as innocently as he could. 

“You mean this is a booty call?” John only shrugged in reply. “You’re unbelievable.” John didn’t say anything to defend himself. While this struck Zatanna as weird, she still walked away. She only got a few feet away before she realized, “Why would you wait at my office?”

“The theater was closed, so I figured that was the office best bet of where you were.”

“No, I mean why not just wait at my apartment?” It would have improved his chances with Zatanna. She wouldn’t admit that, but he wouldn’t need her too. He already knew it.

“I don’t have a key to it anymore.”

“You don’t need a key, and you know I don’t have any protection wards against you.”

“Always knew you had a soft spot for me, Zee.” True, but Zatanna wasn’t going to admit that either.

“Quit changing the subject. Why did you wait in the lobby for hours instead of going to my apartment, where you could have had a shower and slept on a bed?”

“I wasn’t thinking, I just wanted to see you.” There was something else. Something John wasn’t saying. She wasn’t going to break down that wall on the street.

“Fine,” She said, “We can talk, but you’re taking a shower first.”

John smiled, “Great.”

Instead of walking the rest of the way or calling a cab, Zatanna grabbed John’s hand and said, “Edisni fo ym tnemtrapa.” They didn't need to be holding hands, but it did make the spell easier. Plus Zatanna loved holding John’s hand, not that he needed to know that.

She didn’t let go of his hand as soon as they appeared in her apartment. Instead, she just held it for a minute while she looked him over, trying to figure out what happened to him.

John stood under that gaze as long as he could until he finally broke and said, “I’m going to get that shower.” If it were anyone else, he could have stood under their stare. Even meet their eyes and force them to look away. Not with Zatanna, though. She had a way of seeing through his bullshit to the truth that he so desperately tried to hide.

“I’ll see if I have any clothes for you.” She did, an old button-up of his and some yoga pants that were definitely not his. While she doubted John would wear them, it would still be funny to see his reaction. After throwing the clothes into the bathroom, she started making them dinner. At this point, it was clear it was going to take her a while to break John down, and she was hungry. Zatanna also doubted John had eaten recently based on his condition.

She decided to make them spaghetti since it was the only thing that she had enough for two. John got out of the shower just when Zatanna was pouring the spaghetti out of the pot. Surprisingly, he was wearing the sweatpants she had picked out for him, which made her smile. 

“Do you have some wine to drink with this?” He asked as he started to get out bowls and silverware.

“No.” Zatanna saw the exaggerated look of disappointment on his face and added, “I had to give my only bottle to my manager as compensation for dealing with you.”

“So you only had one bottle? That’s just bad planning.”

“Not for normal, well-adjusted people.”

“And you would know how?”

Zatanna scoffed, “I know better than you.”

“That’s not saying much, everyone does.”

“Do you want me to kick you out?”

“Fine, you’re normal and well adjusted. Can we eat now?” 

Zatanna sighed and rolled her eyes, “You’re unbelievable.”

“Pretty sure that’s what your assistant thought too.” John scooped some spaghetti onto his plate.

“Manager,” Zatanna corrected, “And what did you do to piss her off so much?”

“I was just my charming old self.”

“I bet.” They ate in silence for a while, but Zatanna didn’t miss the looks John was sneaking her. He kept on looking at her as if he couldn’t believe she was right there in front of him. She remembered those looks from back when they were together. After particularly tough missions he would always give her that look until she reminded him that she was fine and not going anywhere. Might have backfired, considering their relationship now. If John really needed her, though, she would be there for him.

“So what where you doing?” John asked.

“Helping Fate with some ritual. Apparently it needs to be performed once every hundred years or so.”

“Fate?” John made a face.

“I’m not Nabu’s biggest fan either, but Kent is a friend and you have to admit Fate serves a purpose.”

John shrugged, “Whatever you say, as long as you don’t get screwed over by him.”

“Do you know how many people have said those exact sentiments about you?” Zatanna knew he was right though. While Kent was a good influence on him, in the end, all Nabu cared about was the order of the universe. Friends and colleagues were second, maybe even third on Fate’s list of priorities. 

“Did you listen to them?”

“You’re in my apartment.” Zatanna got up and put her dishes in the sink.

John followed her. “Touche.” 

“What did you do today?” Zatanna asked.

“Nothing interesting.” John couldn’t meet Zatanna’s eye. “Just the usual.”

“I doubt that.” When John didn’t reply she got out a glass and poured some scotch into it. “C’mon.” She led him to the couch and gave him the glass, which he took a sip from.

John finally got tired of the look Zatanna was giving him and said, “Look, this is just what you guessed earlier; a booty call.”

“Bullshit.”

“I just said you were right. Are you saying you were wrong?”

“You have tons of people to go to for a booty call, why me?”

“Why not you?”

Zatanna sighed, “Because I live in Las Vegas for starters.”

“I have a magical house that flies me wherever I want.” 

“Cut the bullshit, something had to have happened for you to think of me.”

“Except it doesn’t, Zee.” One of John’s walls finally fell down. He let out a breathy sigh. “Nothing has to happen for me to think about you. You are constantly on my mind.” John wasn’t finished, but he needed to take a break. It was excruciating to put himself out there like that. He wondered how normal people did it all the time. How she did it all the time. She had shown him pieces of her that were so delicate and beautiful. More wonderful than anything he could return.

Instead of reminding him that she had moved on like he had expected her to, Zatanna simply rubbed his arm and said, “What happened John?”

Some voice deep inside of him told him not to tell her. To not drag her down into his problems. Into his hell. But the way that she looked at him, with her eyes big with concern and a worried frown on her face, he didn’t have the strength to shut her out.

“I was battling a demon. Pathetic thing. Near the end, it tried to throw me off my game. It gave me visions of you, dead. I knew it was my fault, don’t know how. I just knew that I had gotten you killed.”

“John, Hey.” Zatanna took his hand and pressed his fingers on her wrist. “. Do you feel my heartbeat?” John nodded, “Good. I’m right here, and trust me when I say I’m not going anywhere.”

“You should.” You should run from me like everyone tells you to. You’re too wonderful for me, and I don’t know how you haven’t realized it.

“Don’t worry. It takes a lot more than you to kill me.”

John gave her a halfhearted smile, but Zatanna noticed something new in his eyes. Something that in all their years she had never seen. Tears. John Constantine was on the verge of crying. 

It was something that he just didn’t do in front of other people. Hell, Zatanna doubted he cried even when he was alone. But here he was, about to break down right in front of her. It was beautiful and terrible all at the same time. 

Zatanna was unsure of what to do. This was all unfamiliar territory. Then she remembered what John did when she cried. He simply held her. Zatanna had always wondered where he learned that response. He wasn’t the type to be around people when they needed comforting, and he sure as hell had no one in his life to comfort him. Maybe it was what he would want other people to do for him.

It was what Zatanna was going to do for him. She wrapped her arms around him. To her surprise, he didn’t fight it at all. He just wrapped his arms around and buried his head in her neck. His tears slowly made her neck wet. Zatanna would whisper words of solace his ear, which would cause him to cry even harder. Eventually, Zatanna broke down too. She wasn’t sure why or exactly when she started crying. It was just that seeing John in this much pain hurt her. It hurt her uniquely. In a way she was unprepared for.

“Sorry,” She said to John as he started to rub small circles on her back. “I’m the one who’s supposed to be comforting you.”

John managed a small smile for her. “It’s all right love.”

“God,” Zatanna finally broke away to wipe her eyes. “We’re such a mess.”

“Yeah.” John wiped at his own eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For making you sad.” That wasn’t the emotion he meant, but it was the closest word he could think of. He wasn’t entirely sure that the English language had the word to describe the misery and heartbreak he had put her through.

“I’m not sad. I just hate seeing you in pain.”

“I’m in pain most of the time, sorry to disappoint you.”

“Stop saying you’re sorry.”

“You should take all the apologies you can get. Save em up for a rainy day when I’m being an asshole.”

Zatanna shook her head, “I guess so.”

“Well,” John stood up, “I should get going.”

“Wait,” Zatanna grabbed his hand. “Stay.”

“I thought you weren’t in the mood for a booty call.”

“I’m not. I just don’t want you to be alone.” John didn’t reply to that. He couldn’t. The truth was he didn’t want himself to be alone either. “Stay.”

“Fine.” He didn’t have the energy or motivation to fight her.

“Come on,” Zatanna began to pull him to the bedroom. “We’re getting some sleep in you.”

“Any excuse to get me in the bed, huh?”

“Shush.” Zatanna pushed him onto the bed. “I’m gonna go change.”

“Wear something lacey.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“Hmm.” John closed his eyes. Not because he was falling asleep, he just needed to rest them. Once he felt Zatanna familiar weight lie down next to him on the bed, his body acted on autopilot and wrapped his arms around her.

Zatanna snuggled into his embrace, “Looking pretty tired there, Constantine.”

“M’not. Just trying to avoid angering you.”

“That’s a good idea.” She kept her voice low and soothing.

“You might curse me or…” John dozed off. It was sooner than Zatanna expected. He really did have a bad day.

She gave him a peck on the lips. “Good night, John.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed. In case your wondering Abigail was a character I made up on the spot for this fic.


End file.
